Every so often a show lands on Netflix and viewers don’t just like it, they push it up the charts and then rush to the internet to tell everyone else. The Body is that show right now.
The score that caught my eye
When The Body first appeared on Rotten Tomatoes, critics were giving it a perfect 100%. That number slipped to 84% as more reviews came in, which is still very good. But while the critics’ score settled, something rarer happened: the audience score climbed to 98%, and it held there even after hundreds more viewers weighed in.
Audience scores can be volatile. Early ratings often come from the most enthusiastic fans, and the number usually sinks as a wider crowd arrives. A score that stays at 98% as the audience grows is the sign of a show that works for people.
What is The Body about?
It’s a creepy drama set in a Catholic high school, and it has a supernatural edge. Siblings Lisbeth and Leo arrive as new students after a very different religious upbringing. Lisbeth is determined to join the school’s elite dance team and gets in after a traumatic event bonds her with the team captain, Anya. Anya’s best friend, Elise, never trusts the newcomer, and the story slowly reveals what Lisbeth is really after.
Much of the fun is that you can’t be sure whether anything supernatural is happening or whether it’s all fear, guilt and manipulation. That ambiguity keeps the mystery interesting from episode to episode.
The performances carry it
The two sibling leads are the standouts. Jackson Kelly, remembered as the troubled teen from season one of The Pitt, plays Leo as a bundle of anxiety and religious guilt. Geena Meszaros plays Lisbeth, and her earlier work in Netflix’s cult drama Wayward feels like good preparation for this role. The two give the show its emotional weight, and a story like this only works when the cast sells the tension.
Proof that people are watching
The audience score isn’t the only evidence. The Body debuted at No. 4 on Netflix’s top 10 and quickly climbed to No. 2. That made it the most-watched scripted series on the service, behind only the true-crime documentary Taken: Natalee Holloway. It also passed Black Doves on the way up.
It did this with no built-in fanbase. It isn’t adapted from a popular YA novel. It’s an original story from creator Quinn Shephard, so the word of mouth has been earned.
Will there be a season 2?
Nothing is confirmed, and Netflix rarely moves quickly on renewals. Still, the pieces look promising: strong viewership, great audience reception and a story that could easily continue. Shephard has said that she and co-showrunner Gina have season 2 ideas percolating, and that they’d be lucky to get the chance to make it.
The verdict
A 98% audience score always invites skepticism, but in this case the numbers, the charts and the performances all point the same way. If you like mysteries with a creepy atmosphere and a cast that commits, The Body is worth your weekend.